GOP candidates square off in 17th District race

The three Republicans campaigning to replace Rep. Matt Cartwright in Congress drove home the same points at Tuesday's debate, but their experience had them addressing the issues from different perspectives.

Matthew Connolly, a 48-year-old auto racing team owner from Bethlehem Township, cast himself as living the American dream, turning his passion for cars into a livelihood for 25 years and parlaying his success with real estate investments.

Matthew Dietz, a 37-year-old father from Wind Gap and son of a truck driver, worked his way from baggage handler to commercial airline pilot.

And Dr. David Moylan, 62, of South Manheim Township, the Schuylkill County coroner, called Obamacare a job killer and bills himself as the cure for Congress.

Each told about 50 people at the forum, held at American Legion Post 724 in Wind Gap, Northampton County, how that experience made him the best person to promote the GOP platform in the 17th District: Fight Obamacare, reduce taxes and eliminate tax loopholes, and wean the country off foreign energy.

In the very congenial, 1½-hour debate, the candidates did not strike contrasts with each other but hammered at the Democratic incumbent, Cartwright, D-Moosic, and tried to tie him to President Barack Obama.

Connolly called Obama "the most unfit person to walk into the White House" and said he had "no spine" when it came to his role as commander-in-chief and his policy toward Russia.

"I see this country being converted into something it was never designed to be. Our Founding Fathers got it right. Their vision was correct. It was almost divinely inspired, is one way to put it," he said.

"Now, we have forces that are working to change it. I remember a certain person running for president, saying (he would) fundamentally transform this nation. I guess we just weren't listening because he is doing it. If ever there was a reason to try to become elected to Congress, (it's) to stop this guy."

Drawing on his medical background, Moylan said physicians practice "defensive medicine," which drives up the cost, and called for medical tort reform. He argued Cartwright, a lawyer, would not fight hard to change the status quo.

On taxation, each candidate said the levies were too onerous and must be reduced. Dietz suggested lowering all taxes and eliminating loopholes for "Washington insiders."

Connolly said there comes a point when taxes get so high that people will cheat, not pay them or not work as hard, which is all bad for the economy. He suggested a flat tax.

Moylan suggested a "fair" postcard tax return that would put his accountant out of business.

Each candidate was asked which federal tax they would take on. Going first, Moylan suggested the "death tax," because it forces families to liquidate property to pay them.

Next, Connolly said he agreed with the unfairness of the inheritance tax but would choose the Affordable Care Act, which the Supreme Court described as a tax in its upholding of the law.

Moylan applauded both those answers and added keeping a watchful eye on the capital gains tax, ensuring it never goes back up to 25 percent and stifles the American spirit of taking chances, on which the country was founded.

The candidates agreed that the one issue uniting the 17th Congressional District, which slices through six counties, is energy. Pointing to the district's coal regions, Moylan said the country has vast domestic energy sources it can learn, through innovation, to use cleanly and more cheaply than foreign energy.

"I think, if we can get Obama and his legions to back off on the war on coal, this is a resource we can use," Moylan said.

Dietz said domestically produced energy could free the country from its dependency in other areas of the world and create jobs at home.

"The EPA has become an overbearing regulator," he said, referring to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Connolly added to the argument, saying people's lives should not be as affected as they were by last winter's high heating costs.

The debate is the first and only one before the May 20 primary.

The winner will face Cartwright, who toppled Pennsylvania's longest-serving congressman, Tim Holden, during the 2012 primary in a newly reconfigured district.

The 17th District includes Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Scranton and Carbondale, as well as Easton and the Slate Belt area of Northampton County, Nazareth, Bethlehem Township and a portion of Bethlehem. It also stretches into Carbon, Monroe and Schuylkill counties.

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